King mansa musa biography quick

Mansa Musa [ a ] reigned c. Musa's reign is often regarded as the zenith of Mali's power and prestige, although he features less in Mandinka oral traditions than his predecessors. He was exceptionally wealthy [ 6 ] to an extent that he was described as being inconceivably rich by contemporaries; Time magazine reported: "There's really no way to put an accurate number on his wealth.

Over a very long period Mali had amassed a large reserve of gold. Mali is also believed to have been involved in the trade in many goods such as ivory, slaves , spices, silks, and ceramics. However, presently little is known about the extent or mechanics of these trades. Musa went on Hajj to Mecca in , traveling with an enormous entourage and a vast supply of gold.

Mansa musa net worth

En route he spent time in Cairo , where his lavish gift-giving is said to have noticeably affected the value of gold in Egypt and garnered the attention of the wider Muslim world. Musa expanded the borders of the Mali Empire, in particular incorporating the cities of Gao and Timbuktu into its territory. He sought closer ties with the rest of the Muslim world, particularly the Mamluk and Marinid Sultanates.

He recruited scholars from the wider Muslim world to travel to Mali, such as the Andalusian poet Abu Ishaq al-Sahili , and helped establish Timbuktu as a center of Islamic learning. His reign is associated with numerous construction projects, including a portion of Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu. Musa is often given the title Hajji in oral tradition because he made hajj.

Much of what is known about Musa comes from Arabic sources written after his hajj, especially the writings of Al-Umari and Ibn Khaldun. While in Cairo during his hajj , Musa befriended officials such as Ibn Amir Hajib, who learned about him and his country from him and later passed that knowledge to historians such as Al-Umari.